Featuring “the enduring power of prophetic women whose voices transcend time," Peninsula Women’s Chorus (PWC) presents its winter concerts on Dec. 12 at Palo Alto’s First United Methodist Church, and on Dec. 13 at Mission Santa Clara.
“Ancient echoes entwine with contemporary voices in a rich tapestry of the timeless and the sublime,” says the program, which includes Eric Tuan’s A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Pamela Z’s Pen Pal, Joan Szymko’s The Peace of Wild Things, and Shira Cion’s meditative prayer Ma Navu.
Reprised works from PWC’s recent turn as a guest ensemble with the Stanford University Music Department include Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi’s Mahi, which reveals the courage of finding one’s voice, and Anna Kristina Golubkova’s Subtler than Subtlety, which invites listeners into a soundscape that moves beyond familiar harmony, exploring unseen realms.
Also on the program are works by Handel and a medley of holiday songs from around the world. Three of the composers will participate in pre-concert talks.
PWC Artistic Director Anne K. Hege says working on the winter concert "has deeply inspired me to consider how transcendence doesn't just happen. Choral practice is an ideal form for preparing collective transcendence.
“Our rehearsals are an antidote to our current political moment. Seeing PWC show up to rehearsals every week, hearing the growth in their singing and their understanding of the compositions, guiding their listening, and advocating for a willingness to be thoughtful, committed, and vulnerable in their expression reminds me of the beauty and potential of what people can build together. [It’s] a form of civic practice.”
One of alto Debbie Romani’s favorites on the program is Joan Szcymko’s setting of Wendell Berry’s poem, The Peace of Wild Things.
“It lets me breathe more freely in a world that often causes such grief,” Romani says. “As the poet writes, and as we sing, ‘when I come into the presence of still water... For a time, I rest in the grace of the world and am free’.
“Perhaps a non-singer would not understand how hard choral singers work at listening. We pay close attention and we make microscopic adjustments within our bodies to create those ringing chords and fleeting moments of harmony. It is one of the most profound ways imaginable of working together.”
Since 1966, the Peninsula Women’s Chorus has been dedicated to performing a broad spectrum of music in its original language, sung from memory. The chorus also promotes the growth of choral music for treble voices by commissioning new and adventurous works. Recent honors include third place in the 2023 American Prize in Virtual Performance and an appearance at the 2023 Chorus America Conference closing ceremony.
